The U.S. has all but forgotten Maria Montessori, the practical Italian idealist who founded her own brand of progressive education in 1907. Though once Americans acclaimed her, John Dewey's permissive disciples pooh-poohed her as too rigid, and only in Europe have Montessori schools made real headway. But last week, in a handsome new building in Greenwich, Conn., the nation's only "pure" Montessori school was dedicated. Whitby School is startling on at least two counts: it was founded by firmly anti-permissive Roman Catholics, and its old Montessori methods turn out to be a showcase...
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